1 08 History of Nature. [BoOK 1 X . 



Locusts are there to be found of full four Cubits : and Eels 

 in the River Ganges of thirty Feet. But these Beasts in the 

 Sea are chiefly to be seen about the Solstice. For then by 

 the Whirlwinds, Rains, and Tempests, which rush with Vio- 

 lence down from the rugged Mountains, the Seas are turned 

 up from the very Bottom ; and thus the Billows roll and 

 raise these Beasts out of the deep Parts of the Ocean. For 

 in that Manner so great a Multitude of Tunnies were on one 

 occasion driven up, that the Fleet of Alexander the Great was 

 able to make head against them in no other Manner than by 

 advancing as if to contend with an Host of Enemies ; for 

 otherwise if they had sailed singly and asunder, there had 

 been no Way to escape. By no Voice, no Noise, no Blows, 

 but by the Crash only were they terrified ; nor are they 

 disturbed but by Destruction. 



In the Red Sea there is a great Peninsula named Cadara, 

 projecting so far as to form an extensive Bay, which it took 

 King Ptolemceus twelve Days and Nights to row through ; 

 for there was not any Wind to help him. Through the 

 Stillness of this Place, the Beasts grow to such bigness, 

 that their Weight renders them not able to stir. The Com- 

 manders of the Fleets of Alexander the Great reported, 

 that the Gedrosi, a People dwelling on the River Arbis, 



the west coasts of Britain, by the corresponding term " Blower." The 

 enormous creature cast on shore at Gades, as mentioned at the end of 

 Chap. 5, must have been of this genus ; and as the number of teeth 

 assigned to it was probably counted collectively, after the jaws were 

 denuded of flesh, when some also are seen in the upper jaw, it may be 

 supposed probable that it was Ph. macrocephalus. 



The other species mentioned by Pliny belong to the genus Delphinus : 

 D. Orca. The Grampus. It is also the Aries or Ram of Pliny ; 

 from a white crescent over the eye, marked on the skin, fancifully 

 supposed to resemble a ram's horn. 

 D. DelpMs. The real Dolphin. 

 D. Tursio. 



The Platanista of Pliny is the D. gangeticus, Cuv. 

 The Forcus marinus, c. 15, is probably the D. Phocana, or common 



Porpus. 



Whale oil is mentioned, B. xxxii. c. 1. 

 The Pristis is probably the P, antiquorum, or Sawfish. Wvrn. Club. 



